Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the U.S.

That's the title of a provocative memo to President Bush from the CIA on August 6, 2001. National Security Advisor Condi Rice testified today that this "PDB" (President's Daily Briefing) "was not a "specific threat" to the United States, but rather an historical document only.

I don't believe that. If there was nothing embarassing about this document, the Bush Administration would not be opposed to declassifying it so the public can know what the president knew. Let's see. Numerous young, well-funded arabs taking flight training for commercial airliners; "sleeper" Al Qaeda cells operating in the United States; a "huge spike" in intelligence "chatter" in Summer 2001 indicating that something "extraordinary" was being planned by bin Laden; and the well-known "millennium plot," folied at the last minute, to blow up Los Angeles International Airport.

This was not a failure of intelligence, it was a failure of imagination and commitment. Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich -- really strange bedfellows -- collectively warned in early 2001 that "a direct attack against American citizens on American soil is likely." No one in the White House cared. Yes, Al Qaeda was innovative in its use of commercial aircraft as missiles. But we pay these folks in government to think big thoughts, and all they could imagine was star wars, nuclear proliferation and assaults on U.S. embassies -- all stuff based on past patterns.

Rice's rationale for not acting before 9/11 is that the president was "tired of swatting flies." But as former Sen. Bob Kerrey asked, what flies had he swatted before 9/11? "We only swatted a fly once on the 20th of August 1998. We didn't swat any flies afterwards. How the hell could he be tired?" Clinton at least tried to kill bin Laden with cruise missiles. Bush had done nothing, not a single swat.

 Posted by glenn